Thanks for the guest post by Jo Levy

We logged onto http://www.Direct.tv/ and decided that we would upgrade our television package. My parents gave us a great new flat screen television for our first anniversary. We had a smaller flat screen that we bought at Wal-Mart but it was only twenty-two inches, quite small in a living room. We decided to add the movie channels to our new television service because we recently cancelled our Netflix account. We were shocked when Netflix started the huge price jump recently. Normally, price jumps are only a few percentages when it comes to things, but the Netflix jump was literally sixty percent. I really didn’t think that it was fair that they decided to split the streaming and DVD service and then do a sixty-percent price jump! Talk about bad customer service. I heard that they lost like two million subscribers in one month. Kind of like Bank of America, except they haven’t backed off of the price cut. Even if they did, I wouldn’t rejoin. We are happy with the movie channels on our new flat screen.

Ayam Tempra / Chicken Tempra is one of the simplest Nyonya dish and quick to prepare too. All you need is Chicken, Onion, Calamansi Juice and some basic sauces which I’m sure you’ll have them in your fridge. Saute the slice Onions, throw in the Chicken add water for gravy then all the sauces and lime juice. Cover it up so that the Chicken can be thoroughly cooked then it is done. Easy right?

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 Chicken cut in small pieces.
One Big Onion, sliced. (if u like lots of onion, use 2 lar, like i do)
3-4 Calamansi (Limau Sambal) - Squeeze out the juice then throw away the seeds.
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
3 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (agak-agak lar, i like my gravy to be darker in colour)
Salt and sugar to taste

If you like the smell of Sesame Oil, add a few drops of it.
If you buy your chicken from supermarket, pls add a few slices of ginger to get rid of the unpleasant “not fresh meat” smell.
If you like spicy food, add some sliced fresh red chilli.

This is the step by step of how to cook Ayam Tempra.

1. Saute the Onions till fragrance.
2. Add in the Calamansi juice and red chilli.
3. Put in the chicken meat. Cook till half cooked.
4. Add water then all the sauces, salt n sugar.
5. Mix it well, then cover the wok till the chicken is cooked and the gravy thickened.

You are done!

Thanks for the guest post by Jo Levy

My husband retired two years ago, and I am about to take the plunge into retirement as well. Retirement will finally give us the opportunity to some of the things that we have always dreamed about but did not have the time to do. One of the main things that I want to do is to be able to go visit my grandchildren who live out of state. It is really hard to watch them grow up from so far away. But, I am going to make them one of my main priorities during retirement. When I was very young my grandmother lived with us so I did not have to worry about getting to see her. She was always with us until the day she died. I have a lot of fond memories of learning to make biscuits and learning to crochet. I still make those same biscuits today and have crocheted blankets for my grandchildren. To prepare for the times we will be away from our house, we had a security system installed through TOTAL alarm SYSTEMS. At least then I will not have to worry about anything happening while we are away.

I wanted to try cooking something new. Something not spicy and my children would love it. My mom used to grill chicken wings marinated with dark soy sauce and some honey. I wanted more flavor to it. Furthermore, I bought the chicken wings with the supermarket. They have some kind of unpleasant smell due to not being fresh cut chicken? Could be. The best way to get rid of smell is by using ginger. Instead of just ginger, I add with it some shallots and garlic. I pounded them. Then I marinated the chicken wings with the pounded ingredients, some honey, vegetarian oyster sauce, Hoisin sauce, light soy sauce and a dash of salt. I kept it overnight in the fridge though. If you are doing this last minute, 1 hour of marinate should be sufficient. To cook, I deep fried them. You can also grill it in the oven but I wanted more aroma to my pounded ingredients.

Verdict: My children said, “It is Delicious, Mommy! Please cook this again.

Guest post from: Joe Castro

We run a tight budget here in our house and are proud of it. We aren’t ashamed to switch cable providers just to get a promotional deal, research on http://www.texaselectricityproviders.com for the best rates on power, or stock up on coupons for our next run to Publix. But, what we will spend money on is good photography. We have five kids who grow faster than the weeds that infest our non-garden. I feel like every time I turn around, they have sprouted an inch and need new jeans. So, to keep up with our growing family, we get their pictures taken at least three times a year. We’re so busy running to and from practices, games, and recitals, I feel like I don’t adequately take pictures of these memories. So, it’s nice to be able to capture them in their uniforms, play clothes and dress-up clothes in natural light by a talented photographer. We have a dear friend who takes the kids’ pictures every season and she is so, so talented. Check her out, we love you, Luci! Thank you for capturing our sweetest moments with our babies!

I used the same ingredient as the Ayam Masak Kunyit (Tumeric Chicken) plus some bird eye chili (cili padi) to make the gravy spicy. To prepare this fish dish, you must first deep fry the fish then set it aside. Then you fry the pounded ingredients till fragrance, add water, bring to boil then put in the fish. Cook till the gravy thickens.

I forgot to mention in my previous post. Please pound the ingredients. Do not blend. Blended ingredients are too fine and when frying the aroma does not stands out and the taste is different too. The old school way is always the best

Ingredients:
1/2 chicken – cut into small pieces
sugar to taste
enough water to cover the chicken to let it simmer until dry

Ingredients to pound:
2 thumb size tumeric
8 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper seeds
Few slices galangal
1 thumb size ginger
2 tsp salt

Preparation:
Pound all the ingredients above
Marinate the chicken pieces with the spices (estimate: 1 hour)
Leave the extra aside

Cooking method:
Saute the extra spice in oil till dry and fragant
Add in marinated chicken with spiece
Fry till tender
Add sugar to taste
Add enough water to cover the chicken. Close lid. Once boiled, lower fire and let it simmer (I think it takes about 30mins -1 hour) till the gravy thickens.

The above recipe is not mine. I got it from Chinnee’s food blog.

Today, I attempted to cook Lemak Nenas again. It turned out GOOD!

I woke up late today! The quickest dish I can think of is the Ikan Masak Gerang Asam / Assam Fish. (You see, we are Baba n Nyonya so most of the dishes you will see here are Nyonya dishes. Don’t suggest ABC soup is quicker, my hubby won’t be able to swallow it down. hahaha). Ikan Masak Gerang Asam is spicy, I can use up the brinjal that MIL plucked a few days ago before they go rotten and there’s ikan kembung.

Here’s the agak-agak ingredient:

Blended Chili (Dried Chilli, Shallots n Candlenuts)
6-7 Shallots
A small piece of Belacan
One thumb size Kunyit (fresh Tumeric)
A few slices Lengkuas (Galangal)
4 Serai (Lemongrass)
Half Bunga Kantan (Torch Ginger Bud) - Don’t have also nevermind

Blend all the above then fried it till fragrance with some oil. Minyak lebih also nevermind, cepat garing then tapis the minyak out lar. (I did this just now. Mo cepat kan)

Once done, transfer the fried chilli into a pot. Add in some water, wait for it to boil then add the brinjal. When the brinjal is half cooked, put in the fish. Once the fish is almost done, then only add in the tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste. Bring it to boil again. You are done!

Lastly throw in some Daun Limau Purut. Kasi wangi lagi.

Sorry lar, I don’t have mouth-watering photo of the Ikan Gerang Asam. The above is taken from hubby’s food container. His packed lunch and dinner for today. Thank God for a hubby who is a non fussy eater unlike his wife. I can’t swallow the same dish for lunch and dinner unless it is Sambal Belacan. So, I’ll be having the Asam Fish for dinner. I normally take my lunch at my mom’s. My mom’s cooking is still the best.

One of my favorite Nyonya Kuih is Apam Berkuah. It is made of rice flour and to be eaten but pengat pisang or durian. I still have no time to learn how to make Apam Berkuah. It is quite time consuming to make them. So I think, I will wait at least another year or two before I can learn how to make it. Mean time, whenever I have craving to eat Apam Berkuah, I will request my mom to make it for me. Lord, please bless her with long, healthy life.”

A friend I met on FB wanted my mom to make some for her this coming Sept 16. We have no idea how much to sell to her. Ngam-ngam I was at pasar malam yesterday. So I asked Charlie how much he sells his. He is selling at RM2 for 3 pcs with the kuah. That is pretty expensive eh but then, thinking of the time taken to make the Apam berkuah, it is a fair price.

I just had some last week because my singh BIL craved for it. I got my mom to make some for him. The left-over can be kept in any fridges and steam them the next day to enjoy another round of this Nyonya goodies.